Evacuation System Applicable to Buildings

ABSTRACT

Evacuation system applicable to buildings, in particular the upper floors of high-rise buildings. The evacuation system presents a series of characteristics intended to provide the necessary means for occupants of the upper floors to step away horizontally from the façade or wall of the building and jump out using a parachute, thereby increasing the chances of survival in an emergency evacuation.

OBJECTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an evacuation system applicable to buildings; in particular the upper floors of high-rise buildings. The present evacuation system presents a series of characteristics intended to provide the necessary means for occupants of the upper floors to step away horizontally from the façade or wall of the building and jump out using a parachute, thereby increasing the chances of survival in an emergency evacuation.

FIELD OF APPLICATION OF THE INVENTION

This invention is applicable in the manufacture of passive security systems for buildings.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

At present, various devices used for the evacuation of persons from buildings in cases of emergency are known, such as emergency stairways which are attached to the outside of the building, and which are accessed from different floors through emergency exits at specific intervals.

These emergency stairways, as well as notoriously deteriorating the aesthetics of a building, bear the added drawback that the occupants of the building may not be able to access them, for example, in the case of a fire, the flames may block the passage to the emergency exits that lead to said stairs.

High-rise buildings such as those that the present invention is intended for, possess other security systems, such as automatic fire prevention facilities, or lifts that stop only on selected groups of floors in order to optimize use.

These systems present certain limitations, such as the need for an external supply of electricity, hydraulics or pressure, which themselves may be rendered unusable for a variety of reasons, such as faults, fires or terrorist attacks.

Some other embodiments are also known in the state of the art that relate specifically to evacuation systems for buildings:

Document ES 2 257 212 B describes an evacuation system for high-rise buildings that consists of a habitable enclosure, connected to the building to which it belongs, and which can be accessed in a similar way to a balcony or veranda, and a container filled with helium adjacent to the habitable area. In case of emergency and the need to vacate the building, the habitable enclosure would serve as a cabin that would transport a certain number of persons. The helium body container would be filled with decompressed helium stored in bottles, pressure tanks or cryogenic tanks within the building, thereby increasing the volume of helium and allowing it to serve as a flotation body. The anchors that hold the whole assembly in place would then be released, allowing it to detach from the building and transfer to a clear space nearby.

Document PCT/ES2008/000704 describes a device for the fast evacuation of buildings, especially conceived for the evacuation and/or escape of persons, animals or objects from any level of any building, in the event that it should be necessary, for example in a fire, an earthquake, terrorist attacks or other situation of risk. The device of the invention comprises a spiral ramp, established between a central column and an external covering tube, the same height of the building in question, in such a way that the external tube is fitted with a series of lateral access openings that coincide in number and position with the floors of the building. In addition it has a door on the lower end fitted with an anti-panic means of opening that facilitates the evacuation of the users.

These former embodiments, like fire stairways, have specific points of access which, in case of fire or partial detachment of walls or ceilings, may become inaccessible, resulting in the trapping of persons on the inside of the floors.

Another drawback is their limited capacity of evacuation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The evacuation system applicable to buildings object of this invention is particularly suited to the evacuation of the upper floors of high-rise buildings when descent by other means, such as stairs, lifts or fire stairs on lower floors, is blocked. The evacuation system presents a series of characteristics intended to provide the necessary means for the occupants of upper floors to step away horizontally from the façade or wall of the building and jump out using a parachute with a high chance of success, as the risk of impact with the façade of the building is reduced by the horizontal distancing.

According to the invention, this evacuation system comprises:

-   -   fixed frames, assembled at floor level in openings defined on at         least one façade or exterior wall of the aforementioned upper         floors of the building;     -   windows assembled on the respective fixed frames by means of         respective horizontal axis, arranged such that they correspond         to the lower edges of the windows, allowing the windows to move         on hinges between a vertical closed position and a horizontal         open position;     -   folding straps that connect the sides of the windows with the         fixed frames, and which, in the deployed position, act as the         retaining element of the windows in the horizontal open         position, forming a protective side rail;     -   mechanisms for lowering the windows connected to a driving         device placed within a security cabinet accessible from the         inside of the corresponding floor; and     -   parachute containers which open automatically, located on the         upper floors of the building; the windows, when in the         horizontal open position, form walkways, delimitated laterally         by the rails formed by the folding straps, for the passage of         persons, provided with the corresponding parachutes, toward a         jump point separated from the façade or exterior wall of the         building.

It should be noted that the mechanisms for the lowering of the windows are incorporated into the respective fixed frames and that the driving device of the mechanisms can be of any type, manual or automatic, ensuring in either case that upon engaging the driving device the windows move from a vertical closed position to a horizontal open position; constituting the aforementioned walkway for the passage of the occupants, equipped with the corresponding quick-opening parachutes, towards the jump point located horizontally separated from the façade.

The incorporation of the folding straps which constitute the side rails of the aforementioned walkway prevents people from jumping out from the sides of the walkway, which would entail a greater risk of impact against the façade during the parachute jump.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

By way of complementing the present description, and with the aim of facilitating the understanding of the characteristics of the invention, the present description is accompanied by a set of drawings which include, but are not limited to, the following features:

FIG. 1 shows a front elevation view of a high-rise building in which the upper floors which are fitted with the evacuation system which is the object of the invention are marked with diagonal lines, and the hinged windows which are intended to constitute walkways for jumping are marked with a dot in the centre.

FIG. 2 shows a profile view sectioned along the vertical plane of a portion of the façade and of the upper floors which are fitted with the evacuation system of the invention, in which one of the hinged windows is represented in the horizontal open position.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, this evacuation system applicable to a high-rise building, as shown in FIG. 1, presents on the upper floors, or those floors which are located above a certain height, and which are indicated with diagonal lines in FIG. 1, a series of fixed frames (1) assembled at floor level in openings defined on one façade or exterior wall of the building.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, on the fixed frames (1) are windows (2) assembled by means of respective horizontal axis (21) which coincide with the inner edges of the windows (2).

In addition, the windows are related by their upper edges to the respective fixed frames (1) by means of folding side straps (3).

The fixed frames (1) have mechanisms (4) for the lowering of the windows on their respective axis (21) between a vertical closed position and a horizontal open position.

The mechanisms (4) for the lowering of the windows (1) are connected to a driving device (5) which can be activated either manually or automatically in case of emergency and evacuation of the building.

The mechanisms (4) can be manually operated, electrical, by gas cylinders or any other type, as this does not affect the essence of the invention.

To prevent tampering, the aforementioned driving device (5) is located inside a security cabinet, equipped, for example, with a breakable protective glass; the driving device being accessible from the corresponding floor.

It is to be noted that this driving device can be connected, additionally or alternatively, to an automatically triggered alarm system.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the upper floors of the building fitted with the system of the invention are fitted in addition with automatically opening parachute containers (6) for use by the building's occupants.

In case of evacuation, the windows (2) are folded horizontally into the open position, forming walkways flanked by the straps (3), for the passage of the building's occupants, equipped with parachutes, to the jump point, which is separated from the façade of the building in question and corresponds to the free end of the walkway.

Although the present invention has been described, as an example of a given preferred embodiment, for the record and for relevant purposes, the materials, form, size and provision of the described elements may be modified, whenever this does not suppose an alteration of the essential characteristics of the invention, which are claimed as follows. 

1. (canceled)
 2. Evacuation system applicable to buildings, in particular the upper floors of high-rise buildings; wherein it comprises on said upper floors: a. fixed frames, assembled at floor level in openings defined on at least one façade or exterior wall of the aforementioned upper floors of the buildings; b. windows assembled on the respective fixed frames by means of respective horizontal axis, fitted so that they correspond to the inner edges of the windows, allowing the windows to move on hinges between a vertical closed position and a horizontal open position; c. folding straps that connect the sides of the windows with the fixed frames, and which, in the deployed position, act as the retaining element of the windows in the horizontal open position, forming protective side rails; d. mechanisms for lowering the windows connected to a driving device placed within a security cabinet accessible from the inside of the corresponding floor; e. automatically opening parachute containers, located on the upper floors of the building; and f. the windows, when in the horizontal open position, form walkways, delimitated laterally by the rails formed by the folding straps, for the passage of persons, provided with the corresponding parachutes towards a jump point separated from the façade or exterior wall of the building. 